From Text to Context: Storybooks as a Platform for Dual-Language Learning

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Young children who are learning their first and second languages simultaneously are known as dual language learners (DLLs). DLLs receive more variable language input, affecting subsequent language and literacy development (De Houwer, 2011; Hoff et al. 2014). Shared storybook reading is one vital source of early language input and may effectively support language development of DLLs (Castro et al. 2011; Dickinson, 2012; Montag et al., 2015). However, to date, we lack a theoretical framework of how storybook reading can promote dual-language learning. The three presentations in this symposium will present novel research addressing how learner characteristics, shared reading practices, and storybook format impact language outcomes in DLLs.
The first talk will investigate how language dominance, home literacy practices, and storybook format impact novel word learning in French-English DLL preschoolers. The second talk will address how language proficiency of Spanish- and English-learning preschoolers affects novel word learning across two types of storybook formats. The third talk will discuss the development of a novel application (i.e., EMBRACE), which uses principles of embodied cognition and personalized learning technologies to enhance reading comprehension in Spanish-English DLLs and their parents.
Together, this symposium suggests that a comprehensive theory of how storybooks support dual-language learning will include features of the learner and learning environment. Furthermore, this symposium sheds light on how textual and contextual factors can be leveraged with novel technologies to improve language outcomes in DLLs.

Sub Unit

• Language, Communication

Chair

• Melina Lauryn Knabe, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Individual Presentations

• Reading to Bilingual Children: The Role of Language Dominance in Word Learning and Family Reading Practices - Presenting Author: Melanie Brouillard, Concordia University; Non-Presenting Author: Ana Maria Gonzalez-Barrero, Dalhousie University; Non-Presenting Author: Krista Byers-Heinlein, Concordia University

• How Bilingual Storybooks can Help Grow Vocabulary for Dual-Language Learning Preschoolers - Presenting Author: Kirsten Read, Santa Clara University

• Using EMBRACE to Encourage Dual-Language Dialog and Reading Comprehension - Presenting Author: Ligia Gómez Franco, Ball State University; Non-Presenting Author: Arun Narayanan, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Tri Nguyen, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Chris Blais, Arizone State University; Non-Presenting Author: Erin Walker, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: M. Adelaida Restrepo, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Arthur Glenberg, Arizona State University